Twitch has been pushing the boundaries of interactive television with their Emmy-winning scripted sci-fi series Artificial for years now. With the show now in its third season, creator Bernie Su has shown that even COVID-19 is unable to stop this series.
Artificial: Remote Intelligence takes the concept of remote media to the next level as they embrace the situation forced upon them by the pandemic and use it to adapt the current storylines. To discuss the series and all of the unique aspects involved with it, we here at Comic Book Movie have spoken with the entire cast and have slowly been rolling out the interviews as new episodes of the show release.
Today, we're excited to share our chat with new cast member Dante Baso. Most people know Basco from his roles as Rufio in Steven Spielberg's Hook and Prince Zuko in Avatar: The Last Airbender. You might remember that we chatted with the actor back in February for the 15th anniversary of Avatar: TLA, so we couldn't pass up the chance to catch up with him and get his thoughts on Artificial.
Check out Basco's comments below. and if you'd like to hear the audio component of the interview, scroll down to find Episode 3 of my Inner Child Podcast!
Joe: So how do you like it on the show? I know you haven't been on very long.
Dante Basco: I just started, I mean we just did the first character building episode and so I'm really excited. I really have never done anything like this outside of theater. It feels like theater in a digital age, so I'm pretty excited to see how the whole process goes and I'm looking forward to working with Bernie, I'm a big fan of his.
Joe: I tuned in the other day when the fans were working on making your character so I'm curious to know which facets you were surprised to receive?
Dante Basco: You know, I can't remember all of the characteristics but the whole thing is a new experience, and it's kind of like putting together a D&D character but with thousands of people together.
Joe: That's funny because when I talked to Bernie he had mentioned that you likened the process to character creation in D&D. Do you feel like your experience playing D&D has helped you with the off-the-cuff and interactive nature of Artificial?
Dante Basco: Yeah totally, I think it's going to. I'm not a big D&D player, I sort of got back into it a few years ago when working with Rooster Teeth. I just realized as I got back into improv and involved in shows like Critical Roll with my friends Laura and Travis.
Joe: Is that Laura Bailey and Travis Willingham?
Dante Basco: Yeahhh!
Joe: Yeah see, I know my voice actors! So, I'm curious - Twitch is a perfect platform for the concept of Artificial. Were you familiar with Twitch before taking on this role or is it something you're new to?
Dante Basco: I'm definitely familiar with Twitch, you know, I have a channel called Honor Society in which me and my stream team play video games on Twitch and currently we're doing a Let's Watch of Avatar: The Last Airbender every Friday at 3pm PST. We're raising money for direct relief for COVID frontliners. We have Phil Lamar and Greg Baldwin and a lot of the stars from Avatar on there for good causes.
Joe: I love that! They sent me one of those 15th-anniversary Avatar: The Last Airbender steelbooks, and they are amazing!
Dante Basco: They're great, I have one too.
Joe: Yeah, I figured you have one, haha, I have it sitting up on a shelf and it's one of the coolest things I have now.
Dante Basco: That's awesome, man.
Joe: Back to Artificial. When I was chatting with Jennifer Field and some of the other cast members they mentioned they like to hop in the chat under secret screen names. Is that something you like to do?
Dante Basco: You know, I've never done that. You know, with the technology there is a lot of things going on so for me to just be present is one thing. You kind of feel like you're Captain Kirk on the brig of the Starshiip Enterprise and you gotta run everything, especially now during COVID where I don't have my tech guys with me or anything and I'm running everything myself.
Joe: Now, I know you're still getting used to your character, but what can you tell us about what the audience has built for you? What's your character's name again?
Dante Basco: My character's name is Zander. He's gonna be a rival to Sebastian, who is the owner of the company. And I'm a childhood friend that's coming back into his life and I'm just as eager as everyone else is to find out how I fit into this story and what kind of mischief and mayhem I'm going to bring to these characters. For me it's almost like a soap opera kind of thing which is really interesting because I haven't done any soap operas since the 80's and 90's. I did Santa Barbara for NBC back in the day and then I did a short run show for MTV back in the day, I forget the name of it. So doing soap operas are fun, there's all these different facets of filmmaking like with film television.
Joe: What kind of experience in theater to you have that help prepare you for this?
Dante Basco: Yeah, well you know, I'm theater trained. You know, I studied theater and acting classes for over twenty years, you know? So that's a big part of my training, doing live theater and everything from Shakespheare to modern plays, and I even wrote a play. So I'm very excited to get back into a live setting and act live, it's going to be really great.
Joe: That's awesome. So have you always been into sci-fi stuff then, your whole life?
Dante Basco: Totally, I grew up in the 80's and 90's. Star Wars and Star Trek and even Harry Potter and Hook even, you know that's fantasy and stuff? And with Terminator, Skynet ended the world and that's my birthday August 29th.
Joe: That's funny, that's one month away from my birthday, July 29th.
Dante Basco: That's my mother's birthday!
Joe: We Leos are special people, man! Is there anything else you'd like to share about Artificial or any of your other projects?
Dante Basco: Yeah, just that I'm excited about Artificial. Beyond that I do have my memoirs book out right now From Rufio to Zuko and I'll be touring for that as soon as the COVID restrictions let up. I also have my first project with the Filipino Brothers, hopefully in the fourth quarter of this year.
What do you guys think of Dante's comments? Have you had a chance to check out his portrayal of Zander on Artificial? Be sure to check out the audio component of the interview on my Inner Child Podcast below and share your thoughts in the comments section!
Every story has a beginning. Elle, Sebastian, Ruby, and Justin begin the new journey of the AI to be named. Catch up on the story, and jump in.
Artificial is a Live and Interactive Science Fiction series where the audience changes the story. It is the first original sci-fi series on Twitch and was the winner of the 2019 Primetime Emmy Award for Innovation in Interactive Media.
Artificial: Remote Intelligence airs at 5 pm PST/8 pm PST tonight and every Thursday. You can catch the previous worldbuilding episode here.